closing speed

English

Noun

closing speed (plural closing speeds)

1. The speed of a moving object relative to another object which it is approaching.

   If two vehicles, both travelling at 70 mph (miles per hour), collide head-on, their closing speed is 140 mph.

   • 2021 February 24, Greg Morse, “Great Heck: a tragic chain of events”, in RAIL, number 925, page 39:

     This secondary collision, head-on with a closing speed of 142mph, caused the DVT to veer off to the left. Many of the coaches behind it overturned and careered into an adjacent field.